Lockdown not over, yet time is ripe for mangoes

It’s the season of the King of Fruits and amid the lockdown, the state government wants to ensure that consumers do not miss out on tasting the mango.

Starting Friday, the government will sell mangoes online through the karsirimangoes.karnataka. gov.in portal.

To begin with, orders will be taken in Bengaluru. If there is adequate demand, the government will consider extending it to other districts in the state, officials said.

Agriculture & Horticulture secretary Rajender Kataria, also the chairman of the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Limited, said they had already received encouraging response with about 800 requests in a span of two days. “On Friday, we will be delivering 750 boxes. Each box has three kg of mango, priced at Rs 179 per kg, in addition to Rs 81 for shipment,” he told DH.

The mango development corporation will secure the produce from farmers and transport it to customers through India Post. All the packages will be sanitised before being delivered to customers, the official said.

The produce is secured from farms in Ramanagar district and a few others in Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts. “For the time being, we are starting in Bengaluru city. If there is encouraging response, we can supply to other regions also, ensuring marketing of the local varieties in that particular region,” Kataria added.

Karnataka is the third largest producer of mangoes in India, after UP and Maharashtra. The state has a cultivation area of around 1.8 lakh hectares. The government expects about 9 lakh to 10 lakh metric tonnes of produce this year.